Gotta love it.... Even dumb people can get in on the action and create a botnet. Most likely not from the US, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the novice botnet master...
The sad thing is that people will still fall for something as lame as this.
MXLab.eu is reporting on a currently spamvertised malware campaign dropping Backdoor.IRCBot which, once executed, opens a connection back to an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server, allowing the botnet masters easy of control.
Sample messsage:
Hello friend !You have just received a screensaver from someone who really cares about you!This is a part of the message:“Hi there! It has been a very long time since I haven’t heared anything from you! I hope you enjoy this gift from me that i’ve sent with love … I’ve just found out about this service from Sharon, a friend of mine who also told me that…”If you’d like to see the rest of the message click here to receive your 3d live Dolphins===================Thank you for using www.freeze.com ‘s services !!! Please take this opportunity to let your friends hear about us by sending them this screensaver from our personal collection !==================
From a social engineering perspective this is a — thankfully — badly executed campaign lacking basic quality assurance elements typical for social engineering campaigns such as timing — see the Xmas photo — which could have contributed to a better infection rate.
It seems though the the ubiquitous “You’ve received a screensaver” social engineering campaign is still favored by novice botnet masters.
